Publication Date

Department

Campus Units

Physics and Astronomy, Ames Laboratory

Report Number

IS-J 9632

DOI

10.1021/acs.jpcc.7b12801

Journal Title

The Journal of Physical Chemistry C

Volume Number

122

Issue Number

9

First Page

5057

Last Page

5063

Abstract

A combination of theoretical calculation and the experimental synthesis to explore the new ternary compound is demonstrated in the Sr–Pt–Bi system. Because Pt–Bi is considered as a new critical charge-transfer pair for superconductivity, it inspired us to investigate the Sr–Pt–Bi system. With a thorough calculation of all the known stable/metastable compounds in the Sr–Pt–Bi system and crystal structure predictions, the thermodynamic stability of hypothetical stoichiometry, SrPtBi2, is determined. Following the high-temperature synthesis and crystallographic analysis, the first ternary bismuthide in Sr–Pt–Bi, SrPtBi2 was prepared, and the stoichiometry was confirmed experimentally. SrPtBi2 crystallizes in the space group Pnma (S.G. 62, Pearson Symbol oP48), which matches well with theoretical prediction using an adaptive genetic algorithm. Using first-principles calculations, we demonstrate that the orthorhombic structure has lower formation energies than other 112 structure types, such as tetragonal BaMnBi2 (CuSmP2) and LaAuBi2(CuHfSi2) structure types. The bonding analysis indicates that the Pt–Bi interactions play a critical role in structural stability. The physical property measurements show the metallic properties at the low temperature, which agrees with the electronic structure assessment.